NHTSA Complaint #11266920 — 2002 CHEVROLET TAHOE

BRAKE LINES HAVE RUSTED THROUGH AND CAUSED AN EXTREMELY UNSAFE SITUATION. WHILE ON A FAMILY VACATION TO THE OUTER BANKS THE BRAKES FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. WE WERE ABLE TO FIND A REPAIR SHOP TO LOOK OVER THE BRAKE SYSTEM AFTER REFILLING THE MASTER CYLINDER WITH BRAKE FLUID. THE REPAIR SHOP FOUND NO ISSUES WITH THE BRAKES AND SAID SOMEONE PROBABLY FORGOT TO BLEED THE BRAKES AFTER SERVICING THEM. SINCE IT WAS A RECENTLY PURCHASED VEHICLE AND WE DIDN'T KNOW THE HISTORY OF WORK PERFORMED WE THOUGHT THIS WAS POSSIBLY THE ISSUE. AFTER DRIVING ANOTHER 50 MILES OR SO THE BRAKES FAILED AGAIN FOR THE SECOND TIME. THIS TIME MY FAMILY AND I WERE ON THE WAY TO THE STATE FAIR. I CRAWLED UNDER THE VEHICLE AND FOUND ONE LINE TO BE COMPLETELY RUPTURED AND ALL OTHERS TO BE SEVERELY RUSTED. I NOW PLAN TO REPLACE ALL BRAKE LINES BEFORE THE VEHICLE IS USED AGAIN. I OWN MUCH OLDER VEHICLES WITH BRAKE LINES IN PERFECT SHAPE. AFTER DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH I FOUND THAT CHEVROLET BRAKE LINES USED IN THIS MODEL AND YEAR HAVE HAD ABNORMALLY HIGH BRAKE LINE CORROSION AND FAILURE COMPARED TO OTHER VEHICLES MANUFACTURED DURING THE SAME TIME PERIOD. I AM WONDERING WHY THIS ISSUE HASN'T BEEN BROUGHT TO THE PUBLICS ATTENTION AND WHY NO RECALL? THE BRAKE LINES WERE OBVIOUSLY MANUFACTURED WITH INFERIOR MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIP OR BOTH. THANKS